Also called operant conditioning, instrumental conditioning. a process of changing behavior by rewarding or punishing a subject each time an action is performed until the subject associates the action with pleasure or distress.
Also called classical conditioning, Pavlovian conditioning, respondent conditioning. a process in which a stimulus that was previously neutral, as the sound of a bell, comes to evoke a particular response, as salivation, by being repeatedly paired with another stimulus that normally evokes the response, as the taste of food.
a particular mode of being of a person or thing; existing state; situation with respect to circumstances.
state of health: He was reported to be in critical condition.
fit or requisite state: to be out of condition; to be in no condition to run.
social position: in a lowly condition.
a restricting, limiting, or modifying circumstance: It can happen only under certain conditions.
a circumstance indispensable to some result; prerequisite; that on which something else is contingent: conditions of acceptance.
Usually conditions.existing circumstances: poor living conditions.
something demanded as an essential part of an agreement; provision; stipulation: He accepted on one condition.
Law.
a stipulation in an agreement or instrument transferring property that provides for a change consequent on the occurrence or nonoccurrence of a stated event.
the event upon which this stipulation depends.
Informal. an abnormal or diseased state of part of the body: heart condition; skin condition.
U.S. Education.
a requirement imposed on a college student who fails to reach the prescribed standard in a course at the end of the regular period of instruction, permitting credit to be established by later performance.
the course or subject to which the requirement is attached.
Logic. the antecedent of a conditional proposition.
verb (used with object)
to put in a fit or proper state.
to accustom or inure: to condition oneself to the cold.
to air-condition.
to form or be a condition of; determine, limit, or restrict as a condition.
to subject to particular conditions or circumstances: Her studies conditioned her for her job.
U.S. Education. to impose a condition on (a student).
to test (a commodity) to ascertain its condition.
to make (something) a condition; stipulate.
Psychology. to establish a conditioned response in (a subject).
Textiles.
to test (fibers or fabrics) for the presence of moisture or other foreign matter.
to replace moisture lost from (fibers or fabrics) in manipulation or manufacture.
verb (used without object)
to make conditions.
Idioms
on/upon condition that, with the promise or provision that; provided that; if: She accepted the position on condition that there would be opportunity for advancement.
Origin of condition
1275–1325;Middle Englishcondicioun < Anglo-French;Old French < Latincondiciōn- (stem of condiciō) agreement, equivalent to con-con- + dic- say (see dictate) + -iōn--ion; spelling with t by influence of Late Latin or Medieval Latin forms; compare Frenchcondition
Related formscon·di·tion·a·ble, adjectiveun·con·di·tion, verb (used with object)
psycholthe learning process by which the behaviour of an organism becomes dependent on an event occurring in its environmentSee also classical conditioning, instrumental learning
adjective
(of a shampoo, cosmetic, etc) intended to improve the condition of somethinga conditioning rinse
condition
noun
a particular state of being or existence; situation with respect to circumstancesthe human condition
something that limits or restricts something else; a qualificationyou may enter only under certain conditions
(plural)external or existing circumstancesconditions were right for a takeover
state of health or physical fitness, esp good health (esp in the phrases in condition, out of condition)
an ailment or physical disabilitya heart condition
something indispensable to the existence of something elseyour happiness is a condition of mine
something required as part of an agreement or pact; termsthe conditions of the lease are set out
law
a declaration or provision in a will, contract, etc, that makes some right or liability contingent upon the happening of some event
the event itself
logica statement whose truth is either required for the truth of a given statement (a necessary condition) or sufficient to guarantee the truth of the given statement (a sufficient condition)See sufficient (def. 2), necessary (def. 3e)
mathslogica presupposition, esp a restriction on the domain of quantification, indispensable to the proof of a theorem and stated as part of it
early 14c., condicioun, from Old French condicion "stipulation, state, behavior, social status" (12c., Modern French condition), from Latin condicionem (nominative condicio) "agreement, situation," from condicere "to speak with, talk together," from com- "together" (see com-) + dicere "to speak" (see diction). Evolution of meaning through "stipulation, condition," to "situation, mode of being."
condition
v.
late 15c., "to make conditions," from condition (n.). Meaning "to bring to a desired condition" is from 1844. Related: Conditioned; conditioning.
